Developing an industry culture in Canberra

HerCanberra Team

As young professionals in communications, Kate van Haalen and Bryden Campbell felt there was a lack of connection and collaboration in the industry.

That gap inspired the two women to launch MASHUP, a new, local networking event designed to connect like-minded professionals working in the marketing, media and sales industry, with the first event to be held on 21 July.

Two national guest speakers have been secured for the inaugural event: Founder and Content Director of Mumbrella Tim Burrowes and Head of Connect Strategy at Leo Burnett Emily Taylor.

Tim Burrowes.

Tim is an award-winning journalist, publisher and business owner based in Sydney; while Emily works in global strategy and innovation roles as an integrated specialist in digital and strategic consulting.

Kate says through networking events and casual meet ups, MASHUP’s goal is to enlighten professionals to learn something new but most importantly to be inspired to collaborate and create new initiatives or projects for their city.

“This is really about building an industry culture so people can build up their networks,” Kate says.

“I think the appeal of it is that it’s not membership based, it’s not a huge commitment, the tickets are affordable and these internationally recognised speakers bringing their knowledge to Canberra underneath an umbrella that is all about collaborating and connecting people.”

Emily Taylor

Kate says it is not enough to just be a marketer, advertiser, media advisor, writer or graphic designer these days; to excel in the industry you have to be a mash-up of all of these skills (hence, the name.)

“I think that for people who are in this industry, often it requires you to be such a hybrid – you might be working in marketing, but it’s important to also have knowledge of media in those networks as well,” she says.

“It is important to retain Canberra’s home grown talent and in doing so, give professionals the opportunity to gain valuable insights into the industry outside of Canberra and how we can apply lessons from industry leaders to our market.”

MASHUP is a not for profit and is non membership based, with all ticket sales directly invested into delivering quality events and attracting national and international speakers to build a positive industry culture in Canberra.